Thruway tables toll hike, cuts trooper contract

Inside of a toll increase, Thruway to trim staff, shift cost of patrols

Updated 6:43 am, Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Photo: Skip Dickstein

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Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Dec 17, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of ... more

Photo: Skip Dickstein

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Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Dec 17, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of ... more

Photo: Skip Dickstein

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Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, announces his plan to accept Bid #1 for the new Tappan Zee bridge during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Dec 17, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, announces his plan to accept Bid #1 for the new Tappan Zee bridge during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: Skip Dickstein

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Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, listens as Governor Andrew Cuomo accepts the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Dec 17, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, listens as Governor Andrew Cuomo accepts the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red ... more

Photo: Skip Dickstein

Image 5 of 5

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Dec 17, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Tom Madison, Director of the NYS Thruway Authority, left gives Governor Andrew Cuomo the details of the " New Cost Savings" for the Thruway Authority during a press conference which was held in the Red Room of ... more

"We will be cutting costs by hundreds of millions of dollars," Madison said during a news conference with the governor hours before the Thruway board was scheduled to meet.

Among the changes to make up for what would have been $90 million brought in by the toll hikes: downsizing the Thruway's approximately 3,000-strong staff by more than 350 people, mostly through attrition; bringing employee benefits more in line with the rest of the state workforce; and rethinking the number and types of vehicles they buy.

One of the biggest changes, though, will be the end of the Thruway's traditional payment to the State Police for patrol services.

Under a unique arrangement that dates to the Thruway's opening in 1954, the authority pays the State Police $60 million per year to patrol the approximately 500-mile-long roadway.

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Both the governor and State Police stressed that troopers would continue to patrol the Thruway and that the cost shift will be worked out in the state's budget next year.

Business leaders and politicians who had earlier railed against what they said was a de facto tax hike cheered Monday's news.

"This action is another example of the governor's continued commitment to improve New York's economy by controlling costs rather than by increasing taxes and fees," said Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the state Business Council.

Her thoughts were echoed by similar groups such as the Farm Bureau and Unshackle Upstate.

"Today's news is a victory for New Yorkers, but we must continue to hold the Thruway's feet to the fire," added Steve McLaughlin, an Albany-area GOP Assemblyman and one of the more vocal opponents of the potential toll hike.

The administration early on said the increase was needed to protect the Thruway's credit rating, but the governor then said it should be viewed as a "last resort."

Credit ratings are important given that the state will have to borrow money to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge spanning the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester counties.

On Monday, the governor agreed that a truck toll increase would set back efforts to make New York more business-friendly and to help the struggling upstate economy, which is heavily dependent on the highway.

"It would send the wrong signal, especially at this time when we're working so hard to send a different signal,'' Cuomo said.

Monday's announcement also follows a Cuomo narrative — that he's trying to correct the errors of earlier administrations.

"It was mismanaged for many years," Cuomo said of the Thruway Authority.

Other governors have said the same — Eliot Spitzer, in his inaugural speech, said New York had been like Rip Van Winkle in its somnambulism and George Pataki frequently spoke of the "failed policies of the past."

The Thruway Authority has had demonstrably high expenses compared with other units of government.

A 2008 Times Union investigation found that the Thruway offered significantly higher salaries for similar jobs performed by state Department of Transportation workers. Engineers and equipment operators alike earned more on the Thruway.

And a story earlier this year noted that 158 Thruway employees, including many in the administrative offices, earned more than $100,000 annually. Moreover, toll collectors, whose average base salary was $50,398, frequently got significantly higher pay due to overtime.

Madison said they were looking to contain overtime costs as part of their belt-tightening.

Still, some observers noted that the cost of police patrols will have to come from somewhere, and rather than flowing from toll hikes it may simply come from a larger allocation in the overall state budget, which funds the State Police.

E.J. McMahon, of the Empire Center, who has studied the Thruway's budget, noted that the authority has been shedding jobs for the past few years.

"That suggests one of two things: They have had a lot of fat or they are cutting to the bone, or both," he said.

There is no way of getting around the high cost of policing the Thruway. With 318 people in Troop T, the cost per trooper works out to about $188,000 per person, said McMahon.

The pullback on higher tolls also came as the Thruway board had settled on Tappan Zee Constructors from the three bidders to rebuild the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Their $3.14 billion bid was the lowest and their design will require less dredging, and would be finished in just over five years.

The final cost may be higher, due to environmental mitigations.

Tappan Zee Constructors is a partnership made up of American Bridge Company, which built the existing span, Fluor, Granite Construction and Traylor Brothers.

With that major project on the horizon, Madison said there were no guarantees that $5 bridge tolls wouldn't rise to pay for it. Part of that calculation will depend on how much help they get from the federal government.